BREAKFAST DEALS: Pluto pickle

Woodside's outgoing boss Don Voelte say the company doesn't need Shell on its register as the price tag on its Pluto project continues to rise. James Packer plays down talk of a tilt for Tabcorp's casino business and Nufarm gets a breather from its banks but shareholders are still left with more questions than answers. Elsewhere, New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart takes a $1 billion punt on the US car market, Google eyes its biggest acquisition to date and is Brockman Resources a good fit for Fortescue?

Woodside Petroleum

Woodside Petroleum's outgoing chief executive Don Voelte probably would have liked to cap off his seven year tenure with the local energy major on a high note but the latest update on its Pluto LNG gas project will no doubt be galling for the tough talking Nebraskan. Costs at Pluto continue to rise and the completion date of the multibillion-dollar project, offshore from Karratha, has now been further pushed back to August with first shipment due in September. Woodside has placed the blame for the delay squarely on the shoulders of the contractor, Foster Wheeler, responsible for the faulty flare towers that needed to be fully replaced. But Voelte did admit that ultimately the buck stopped with him and his team. In its defence, Woodside's development timetable has been pretty ambitious from the start, with the time between discovery and completion of the project head and shoulders above other similar projects. However, the rising costs, which exceeded expectations, will be a headache especially at a time when Woodside is set to install a new chief executive and speculation that the company is front and centre on BHP Billiton's radar. Woodside has been a perennial takeover target but things did tick up a notch after its major shareholder Royal Dutch Shell decided to sell about a third of its stake for $3.3 billion. Shell said it would hang onto its remaining 24.27 per cent stake for at least a year – but it could sell earlier under certain circumstances such as a full takeover of Woodside. Voelte has finally broken his silence on the issue with his message "we don't need them”. Voelte said that Woodside was looking forward to life as an independent company and that he has held talks with Shell's chief executive Peter Voser since its decision to offload the stake. Shell's move was consummated without the knowledge of Woodside and interestingly Voelte believes that Shell could have achieved a better outcome from the whole process had it made Woodside privy to its machinations. With regards to Woodside's other projects, the company said that it was confident of a positive final investment decision on its controversial $30 billion Browse LNG development in Western Australia, despite recent rumblings that BHP, which has an 8.33 per cent share in the project, was getting cold feet. However, Voelte has played down any such talk saying that all joint venture partners were on the same page and it was full steam ahead for the project.

Crown Limited

Casino operator Crown's revenue is on the up and it looks like despite continuing to lose high rollers at its Melbourne and Burswood casinos overall gaming revenue from both facilities has edged up this financial year. The fact that VIPs are streaming out of the Melbourne and Burswood facilities will be a cause of concern given the amount of money that has been poured into making the premier destinations and then there is that issue of whether Crown is sizing up Tabcorp's casino business post its planned demerger. On that front, Crown's supremo James Packer has reportedly poured cold water on any possible moves in the near term. Packer has had his sights on Tabcorp's Star City operations for some time but The Australian reports that he has told Crown shareholders that such a move would "take a lot of work and a lot of money". It looks like the main focus for now is the $2 billion redevelopment of the Melbourne and Burswood facilities and maximising the potential of Crown's interest in the City of Dreams gaming complex in Macau. But rest assured Packer will be keeping an eagle eye on Tabcorp's demerger process.

Nufarm

Agrichemicals group Nufarm has secured a new $900 million dollar facility from its lenders as it gears up for what promises to be an exciting annual general meeting (AGM) this week. The new debt facility will be relief for both Nufarm's management and its embattled shareholders and came a day after UBS upgraded Nufarm from a sell to a buy and said that its net profit could rise by 25 per cent in fiscal 2011. The other good news here is that the deal with the lenders – Rabobank, ANZ, NAB and HSBC – means that Nufarm has fended off the prospect of another hugely embarrassing capital raising, which some had tipped could have been around the $300 million dollar range. Now that we have dispensed with all the positivity here's a look at just some the issues that will be weighing on Nufarm's shareholders going into the AGM on Thursday. The $900 facility is a short-gap measure at best and gives Nufarm a 12 month breather. Nufarm has authorised Rabobank to finalise longer-term debt facilities to replace the one-year arrangement, including a $300 million asset-backed securitisation facility and a $600 million medium-term syndicated facility. The other thing to keep in mind is that the refinancing comes with strict caveats – tougher covenants and an overhaul of Nufarm's management and financial structure. Nufarm isn't exactly a leading light when it comes to disclosures and as The Sydney Morning Herald points out that the company's release yesterday was big on noise but light on details. There's not a lot of information on the full nature of the new facility nor any guidance on the costs associated with it. Not a good look for Nufarm's board whose credibility has taken a hefty battering in recent times.

Northwest Value Partners, ING Health Fund, ING Management

Well it's two out of three for ING Management and its boss Kevin McCann as the restructuring of ING's stable of listed real estate investment trusts rolls along. The latest news on the process is that Canadian healthcare operator Northwest Value Partners has lifted its 94 cents a unit takeover offer for ING Real Estate Healthcare Fund to 95 cents and has won the right to undertake exclusive due diligence on the fund. The new bid is sweeter but still lower than IHF's net tangible assets per unit of 98 cents at June 30. McCann has also had some luck with the ING Industrial Fund with a consortium led by Goodman Group currently undertaking due diligence on the fund. The consortium, which includes three major pension funds, has made a revised offer to purchase all the ordinary units in IIF for 54 cents per unit, again short of the net tangible asset value of 57 cents per share. The one fund that seems to be struggling for suitors at the moment is the ING Office Fund and talks of an internalisation of the fund's management have been gathering pace. For the moment ING Management only has bids for the management rights of the ING Office Fund put forward by Investa Property Group and Apollo Real Estate Advisors and the AFR reckons that investors are probably keener to back an internalisation as long as ING Management doesn't walk away with a large sum for the management rights.

Wrapping up

New Zealand billionaire Graham Hart is back in the news and this time he is heading into the US car market. Hart's private investment company Rank Group has splashed out close to a billion dollars to take car parts maker UCI International off the hands of private equity firm Carlyle Group. Carlyle was planning to float the business but under the terms of the agreement, Rank will buy UCI for $US375 million and take on $US605 million. The merger is subject to conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. Rank will be required to pay UCI a termination fee of $US100 million if the deal falls over. Macquarie Group's move to acquire a 17.5 per cent interest in Bluestone Group will be a shot in the arm for the capital and asset management firm which is hoping to return to the mortgage market after pulling out during the global financial crisis. Macquarie is buying its stake through the subscription of newly issued ordinary shares and Bluestone, founded by respected entrepreneur, Alistair Jeffery, says it will use the proceeds of the capital raising to support the group's European expansion and build on its Australian and New Zealand businesses. Bluestone is owned by a mix of private and institutional shareholders, including Bank of Scotland, Crescent Capital and Barclays Bank. Moving to a couple of things on the local mining scene, it hasn't taken long for Wah Nam International's failed scrip offers for WA iron ore miners Brockman Resources and FerrAus to activate the rumour mills and The Australian Financial Review reports that there are some pushing a case for a takeover of BC Iron, with Fortescue Metals Group the likely suitor. The other rumour doing the rounds, and perhaps there may be a bit of merit to this one, is that Brockman may be in Fortescue's sights given that Brockman will provide some additional port capacity for Fortescue in return for access to its rail line. The other deal in the mining sector is the $500 million cash and scrip offer lobbed by coal technology company White Energy for Cascade Coal. The move marks White Energy's first foray into owning coal mines and Cascade, which boasts a number of White Energy directors as shareholders, seems a logical choice. In overseas news, internet giant Google could be on the cusp of sealing its biggest acquisition to date with reports that it was close to sealing a multi-billion dollar deal to buy online coupon service Groupon. According to The New York Times, the companies were negotiating a price between $US5 billion and $US6 billion. That is almost double the money Yahoo was willing to put on the table during its failed tilt at Groupon earlier this year.